Dump-wagon.



PATENTED APR. 30, 1907.

1) s WATSON DUMP WAGON. APPLICATION FILED JAN.15, 1907.

UNITED srarns PATENT ori ren;

DAVID S. WATSON, OF OANASTOTA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO WATSON WAGONCOMPANY, OF CANASTOTA,

OF NEW YORK.

DUMP-WAGON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 30, 1907.

Application filed January 15,1907 Serial No. 352,458.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID S. WATsoN, of Oanastota, in the county ofMadison, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Dump-Iagons, of which the following, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improve ments in dump wagons in whichthe dump box is provided with laterally swinging bottom doors meetingnear the longitudinal centers of the box when closed, and controlled bysuitable chains or cables passing under said meeting edges and havingtheir rear ends connected to an equalizer, and their front ends attachedto a rotary drum upon which the front ends of the cables are wound andunwound during the operation of closing and openin the doors.

In this class of ump wagons in which the doors are controlled byseparate chains it is desirable to provide one door with a ledge orprojection adapted to over-lap upon the other door to close the gap atthe meeting edges for the purpose of preventing leakage of the materialtherethrough, and it therefore becomes necessary to close one doorhaving the ledge thereon slightly in advance of the other door when thedoors are drawn to their closed position. It is also necessary toprovide a suitable equalizer to compensate for any slight inequality ofthe lengths in the cables, as it is well known that these chains orcables after a short period of use, stretch or lengthen unequallyv In myallowed application No. 326,618, filed July 17, 1906, I have shown anequalizer to compensate for unequal lengths of chain or cable, similarto that shown in my present application and in the joint application ofWatson, Sanderson and Bushnell filed October 16, 1906, Serial No.339,229, is shown a a device brought into action by the opening of thedoors to cause one door to close earlier than the other during thewinding of the cable upon the drum.

In my allowed application above referred to, I employ two rockingmembers connected together by a suitable link and having bearings forthe chain which are located equidistant from their swinging axes, and inthe joint application referred to, these chains are tied together belowthe equalizing members.

The object of my present invention is to accomplish both the equalizingeffect and advance closing of one of the doors before the other by meansof the two rocking members linked together, but pivoted at differentdistances from their peripheral bearings upon which the chains ride,thereby doing away with the tie-piece and othersimerlluous mechanism andenabling me to not only close one door slightly in advance of the other,but also to compensate for any slight inequality in the length of thechains by one and the same mechanism. In other words, I have soughttoreduce the number of parts, thereby simplifying and reducing the costof any compensating and adjusting mechanism, and at the same time;assuring the closing of one of the doors earlier than the other aftereach discharge of the load.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawingsl*igure 1 is a rear end view of a portion of a dump wagonshowing my improved equalizer, partly in sertioi'i, and partly inelevation, and also showing a portion of the winding drum at the frontof the box, the doors being shown in their closed position. Fig. 2 is asin'iilar rear end view with the doors in their open position, and theequalizing members in elevation. l 3 is an enlarged detail sectionalview of the equalizer seen in Fig. 1, but dotted in the po sition seenin Fig. 2.

As shown in the drawings, this equalizer comprises essentially tworocking members 1- and 2 which are pivoted respectively upon suitablebearings *3 and. 4 and are provided with inwardly extending arms whichare connected at their upper ends by a link 5 so as to transmit motionfrom one rock-arm to the other. These rock-arms are mounted in asuitable frame 6 as close to each other as possible to permit the chainsto ride freely between them, the adjacent faces of said rock-arms beingprovided with curved bearings S and 9'- terminating at their upper endsin hookshape extremities 1()- to which the rear ends of the cables, as]1-, are adj ustably attached, as best seen in Fig. 1. These oppositedoor.

curved bearing faces 8 and 9 are arranged at different radial distancesfrom their respective ivot bearings -3 and 4, the curvec bearing 8 beingconcentric with its pivot 3, while the curved bearing 9 of the rock-arm2 is preferably eccentric, the pivotal axis of the arm 2 being nearerits curved bearing face on a rotary line drawn between the axes of thearms 1 and 2 than that of the arm 1 so that the active leverage exertedby the chain on the rock-arm 1 is greater than that exerted upon therock-arm -2.

As previously stated, the rear ends of the cables or chains 1 1- areseated in the grooved bearings 8- and 9 in the adjacent faces of therocking members 1 and 2 with one of the links of each chain detachablyand adjustably interlocked with the hooks or shoulders 10, said chainsbeing then passed downwardly under the meeting edges of the laterallyswinging bottom doors, as a and a/- of a dump box A and their front endsare attached to a Winding drum 12- which may be actuated in anydesirable manner not necessary to herein illustrate or describe, exceptthat it is located on the front end of the box in the usual manner in aplane above the front ends of the doors.

The door a is rovided at its meeting edge with a lengthwise ledge 13adapted to overlap upon the upper face of the meeting edge of theopposite door a for the purpose of closing any intervening gap betweensaid meeting edges and preventing escape of the material therethrough.It therefore, becomes necessary to close one door, as the door aslightly in advance of the door a, and for this purpose the distancebetween the pivot 4 and bearing 9 of the rock-arm 2 is less than thedistance between the pivot 3 and bearing 8- of the rock-arm 1 so thatwhen the drum is released to allow the doors to open by their owngravity the weight upon the doors tending to open the same, istransmitted through the chains 11-. to their respective rockarms 1 and2, and inasmuch as the chain 11 of the rock-arm 1 is engaged therewithat a oint farther than from the axis of the roc -arm 1 than the otherchain 11 with its rock-arm 2, it is clear that the rock-arm, as 1,having the longer leverage will be rocked toward the opposite rock-arm2, to which latter motion will be transmitted in the same direction bythe connecting link 5. During this simultaneons action of the rock-armsby the opening of the doors, it is evident that the door which isconnected to the rock-arm by the longer leverage will be allowed to openthrough a slightly greater are than the In other words, the movement ofthe arms 1 and 2 in the direction indicated by arrow -X by the openingof the doors, causes the rock-arm -1 to let out upon its correspondingchain 1 1 while the rock-arm 2' takes up slightly upon its correspondingchain so that when the doors reach their corresponding positions, thedoor a corresponding to the rockarm -2 is held or drawn by the rockingof the arms -1 and 2 nearer to its closed position than the door a, andduring thewinding of the cables upon the drum 12 this relationcontinues, until the door a/ is closed against the under side of thebox, whereupon the continued Winding of the cables causes an extra pullupon the arm 2 inside of its pivot, thereby rocking both members 1 and-2 in the opposite direction to that indicated by arrow X, which causesthe door a to be drawn to its closed position with its meeting edgefolded under the ledge 13- of the previously closed door a.

In the first adjustment of the door operating cables or chains 11- andequalizer the rock-arms 1 and 2 are preferably disposed in a nearlyupright position, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3, when the doors are closed,but as soon as the winding drum 12- is released to release the doors,the latter swing downwardly, and aided by the load, and either during orat the end of such mo vement, the load or pull transmitted to therocking members -1 and 2 at the inner sides of their pivots, causes themto be rocked in the direction indicated by arrow X- to hold one doornearer to its closed position than the other, so that upon the rewind inclosing the door, the one having the overlapping ledge will be closedfirst, whereupon the continued 'winding of the drum will cause therocking of said members in the opposite direction to close the otherdoor.

What I claim is:

1. In a dump wagon, a dump box having downwardly and laterally swingingbottom doors meeting at substantially the longitudinal center of thebox, one of the doors having a portion of its meeting edge overlappingupon the other door when closed, cables passing under the meeting edgesof the doors and winding means therefor, an equalizer consisting of apair of rock arms having bearings for the cables at different distancesfrom their swinging axes, whereby the overlapping goor is caused toclose earlier than the other oor.

2. In a dump wagon, a dump box having laterally swinging bottom doors,chains passed under the doors, a winding drum connected to the frontends of the chains, and an equalizer connected to the ends of thechains, said equalizer comprising a pair of rock-arms having chainbearings at different distances fromtheir swinging axes whereby the pullexerted by the opening of the doors always rocks the equalizer arms inthe same direction and causes the doors to swing through unequal arcs,the one moving through the lesser are being the first to close when thecables are wound upon the drum.

3. In combination with the swinging bottom doors of a dump wagon andtheir operating cables, of an equalizer consisting of two rockingmembers connected to the chains or cables at different distances fromtheir swinging axes, whereby the doors are caused to swing throughunequal arcs so that the door moving through the lesser arc will beclosed first and operate through its cable or chain to rock theequalizer to take up the lag in the other door.

4 In combination with the swinging bot tom doors of a dump wagon andcontrolling cables therefor, winding means for the cables and anequalizer consisting of two rock-arms arranged side by side and havingtheir adj a cent faces operatively connected to the cables at differentdistances from their swinging axes, whereby the doors are caused toswing through arcs of diflerent lengths so that the one swinging throughthe arc of lesser length will close first and operate through its cableto move the rocking members of the equalizer to take up the lag of theother door during the continued winding of the cables on their windingdrum.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 9 day of January1907.

DAVID S. WATSON.

WVitnesses:

HOWARD P. DENIsoN, CAROLINE MeCoiumoir.

